Moving on After Surprise Split With Coach
During her time with long-time coach Sam Sumyk, Azarenka won two Grand Slam singles titles, rose to No. 1 and then dropped in the rankings last season as she struggled with injuries and personal issues.
- Cristopher Clarey, The New York Times
- Updated: February 19, 2015 04:31 PM IST
![Moving on After Surprise Split With Coach](https://s.ndtvimg.com/images/content/2015/jan/806/victoria-azarenka-562.jpg)
Even in a time of increased shuffling in the coaching ranks of professional tennis, the partnership between Victoria Azarenka and her longtime coach, Sam Sumyk, ended abruptly, at least from Azarenka's perspective.
During their five years together, Azarenka won two Grand Slam singles titles, rose to No. 1 and then dropped in the rankings last season as she struggled with injuries and personal issues.
But Azarenka showed signs of a resurgence last month at the Australian Open and said she was surprised when, the day after her fourth-round loss to Dominika Cibulkova, Sumyk told her he had decided to end their partnership.
"I never will forget what we achieved together and always will be grateful, but yeah, it was a bit surprising for me," Azarenka said in a telephone interview Tuesday from Doha, Qatar. "To me, it's just sad. There's no other emotion. There's no anger. There's no anything else but just sadness because it's like a breakup in a way."
Sumyk and Azarenka have quickly moved on.
The week after the Australian Open ended, Sumyk was already coaching Eugenie Bouchard, a 20-year-old Canadian who reached the Wimbledon final last year and has risen to No. 7.
On Tuesday, Azarenka, now at No. 50 after playing intermittently in 2014, confirmed that she was training in Doha with Wim Fissette, a Belgian coach who has worked with Kim Clijsters and Simona Halep.
"Vika is one of the best players in the world, and hopefully I can make her even a better player than she is right now," Fissette said in an email. "I felt from the first conversation with her that she really is very motivated to get back to the top of women's tennis, and I feel that now being with her in Doha."
Sumyk said the offer from Bouchard came after he had decided to part ways with Azarenka - a split he said was motivated, in part, by a desire to keep progressing.
"I'm always looking for challenges," Sumyk, a Frenchman, said. "I hate comfort. The moment I am in a comfortable situation, it's the end of me growing up as a coach or as a person, if you want. I want to be the best coach possible."
Sumyk said he told Azarenka that she could benefit from hearing a fresh voice. "I'm not going to go into why I said that," he said.
Sumyk said that when he returned to Los Angeles from Australia, he received, to his surprise, three coaching offers in two days. He said Bouchard told him plainly that he was the coach she wanted, just as Azarenka had five years earlier.
"I'm very grateful that another great player is thinking about me," he said.
Does his choice mean that he believes more in Bouchard's prospects than in those of the 25-year-old Azarenka?
"I believe in both pictures," he said. "I believe Vika is a fantastic player and can be fantastic and even better. I believe Eugenie is in a building process. And I believe she has a lot of great tools also to make it happen. I believe for both of them the future is bright."
Azarenka searched hastily for coaching candidates after Sumyk's departure. Fissette coached Clijsters during her successful tour comeback from 2009 to 2011 and then helped Halep reach the French Open final and rise to No. 2 last year. Halep's decision to part ways with Fissette after the season was unforeseen, and she said it was because she wanted to work with a fellow Romanian.
Fissette was a candidate to coach the young American Madison Keys, but Keys elected to work with Lindsay Davenport and Davenport's husband, Jon Leach. She went on to reach the Australian Open semifinals last month.
"I know he had great experience with other players, and for me, what's important is the personality more than the titles," Azarenka said. "I look for somebody now I can have a good long-term relationship with."
Fissette said Azarenka would spend time training at his academy in Belgium.
"As I just started an academy in January, we had to find a good compromise, and I believe we did," he said. "I'll be with her at most of the tournaments."
Sumyk is married to Azarenka's agent, Meilen Tu. They live in Newport Beach, California, where Azarenka owns a home. But Azarenka said Sumyk's decision would not affect the player-agent relationship.
"I don't know what's going to happen in the long term, but I'm happy with my situation right now," Azarenka said.
In an interview before this season, Azarenka called Sumyk her life teacher and talked extensively about his role in helping her understand not just her game but herself.
She said she had struggled with depression last year after breaking up with her boyfriend, musician Stefan Gordy, also known as Redfoo.
Now she has to cope with more change in her inner circle as she prepares to play in Doha next week.
"It was tough because of the relationship we have," she said of Sumyk. "It's more than just a player and a coach, so that's a tough part. But the professional decision, I have to respect that, and I do."
Azarenka was reluctant to discuss Sumyk's decision to work with Bouchard.
"In terms of, like, their situation, I will never comment on that; really, it's none of my business," she said. "I'm sure we are going to meet again on the court, and there's going to be a lot of buzz: Oh, my God, blah, blah, blah. But I really don't care about that."
Azarenka said that the atmosphere on the women's tour had become much more collegial and that she wanted to keep it that way.
"I think we had enough drama in the women's game, and I think the guys show us in a way, really, a great example: that you can be competitive but you still can be friendly," she said. "So for me, I'm not going to try to think of this situation like it's a drama."
© 2015 New York Times News Service